Mitsumine Shrine

photo by Adachi Masayuki · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Carbonium · CC BY 3.0

You borrow the guardian wolf amulet (御眷属) for a year, at 1100 m above sea level.

You arrive by bus from there to the terminus of Seibu-Chichibu, then walk up among centuries-old cedars to the torii and the two main buildings. For centuries the shrine has venerated the wolf as a divine messenger (御眷属, gokenzoku): since the Edo period the faithful have taken its votive tablet home for a year, against fire and theft. The Tokugawa and the Kii branch of the shogunal family were devoted to it, and their gifts are still among the shrine's treasures.

Tradition places its founding in the time of Emperor Keiko, almost two thousand years ago, by Prince Yamato Takeru. In the Kamakura period it was venerated by Hatakeyama Shigetada and Nitta Yoshioki. It stands at about 1100 m on Mount Mitsumine, where the three peaks that give it its name meet.

ℹ️ Open 7:00–17:00. Paid car park (282 car spaces, plus 21 for buses and campervans). Access: express bus from Seibu-Chichibu (about 75 min); by car about 150 min from Hanazono IC, with snow chains or winter tyres required from December to March. In mid-autumn the moon rite 十五夜・月読祭 is held.

🚉 三峯神社 · 8 min walk

Sources: mitsuminejinja.or.jp · chocotabi-saitama.jp

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